The merger of Savings & Loans and Australian Central is proceeding well, with the integration project on time and on budget. From a member’s perspective, it might look like very little has happened, but we’re laying the foundations for some significant changes that will become apparent over the next 6-8 months.

Here I’ll give you a quick run-down of some of a few of the bigger tasks since the legal merger in December, and what that means for how the new credit union will operate.

Product review

Every product and service offered by our two credit unions is being reviewed so we can establish what we’ll be offering to members once the integration is complete. Savings & Loans and Australian Central worked on slightly different models and the review will help us determine how we can meet our members’ needs in the new credit union.

Research

We’ve spoken with groups of members and non-members about Savings & Loans and Australian Central, what they thought of us as separate credit unions, what they want from the merger and how we can improve. This research will form the basis of a lot of the decisions we make in the coming months, including the way we look, how we’ll talk with our members and what products we’ll offer.

Branding and name

After a lengthy process, we’ve appointed an agency to help us develop our new name and brand. The group we’re working with, Futurebrand, has been involved with some of Australia’s best-known brands, including One HD, BHP Billiton, Yellow Pages, the Sydney Olympics and RMIT University.

Groups of members will be consulted throughout the process of developing the new name and brand, with all members having the opportunity to vote on the final name at our Annual General Meeting later in the year.

Computer systems

One of the biggest parts of the integration project is bringing together the different computer and banking systems currently being used by Savings & Loans and Australian Central. Changing banking systems is a massive endeavour, and we’ve spent a lot of time evaluating the various options available to us and what they mean for the way we can serve our members.

The systems we’ve chosen to use for the new credit union will combine the best elements currently used by Savings & Loans and Australian Central. Our core banking system – basically, the hub of all of the other systems – will be a new version of the system currently used by the Australian Central division.

Using the newest technology available means we’ll be able to help our members in more innovative ways than either credit union could previously.

Branches and locations

No decisions have been made regarding the locations of new branches, and we remain committed to not withdrawing ourselves from any locations that Savings & Loans or Australian Central currently operate in. We are still considering opening up to four new branches in South Australia within the next 18 months, along with other locations.

So while you might not be seeing a lot of changes from the outside, there is a lot of activity across both of our divisions to make sure this merger brings real benefits for our members.

Hi everyone. I’m Sarah Cutbush, General Manager Marketing and Development at Savings & Loans. Among other things, I’m responsible for the credit union’s environmental initiatives and marketing material, including statements.

I’m really pleased that after a lot of internal testing, Savings & Loans will be introducing electronic statements (“e-statements” for short) for our members from tomorrow. This is going to be a big help in reducing our impact on the environment and making it easier for our members to take care of their accounts.

Over the past 12 months, we used more than 3.5 million pieces of paper to print our statements – that’s a huge amount no matter how you look at it. This is without a doubt our biggest use of paper. If as many of our members as possible access their statements online, we can put a big dent in the amount of paper we consume.

You’ll be able to sign up for electronic statements through a secure service in Internet Banking. Then, every month (or every quarter, depending on what sort of accounts you have) we’ll send you an email letting you know that a new statement is available. You then log on to Internet Banking to view or download and save your statement.

Statements will display in PDF format, meaning you can save them to your computer, search through them and back them up regularly. You’ll also be able to print your statement in case you need to provide it for a loan application, or anything similar.

Of course, all of your electronic statements will be saved on our system in case anything happens to your home computer.

To celebrate the launch of electronic statements, we’re partnering with Conservation Volunteers Australia to plant 5,000 native trees on South Australia’s Hindmarsh Island. Staff will be heading down there in the next couple of weeks to get the project started and we’ll be sure to update you with some photos!

I know there’ll be a bit of a bias from people reading this blog, but I think the question needs to be asked – just how comfortable are you managing your finances (and anything else, for that matter) online?

I’m asking this because we’re getting near the end of testing for our electronic statement system, which will be up and running in the early part of 2009.

Many of you have been asking about electronic statements and there have been some stumbling blocks along the way, but we wanted to make sure everything is totally secure and working as it should before we launch to members.

You can already ask to receive special offers via email rather than the post through our website but soon you can have statements sent to online rather than through the post. We may still need to contact you by ‘snail mail’ for some communications, like if you forget to make a loan payment or there’s a change to one of your accounts, but it will dramatically cut down the amount of paper we use.

Once the system’s up and running, you’ll be able to sign up for online statements through our Internet Banking system, where you’ll be able to view your statements.

I know that not everyone has access to the Internet at home, but remember that all of our branches have computers that members can access free of charge.

We obviously want to get as many people on board with electronic statements as possible and this is where I’d like your help. How do you think we can encourage our members to really embrace ‘eStatements’ and the difference they can make to the environment?

You – our members – are the people we’re trying to get on board with this, so let us know what you think would work.

This blog has received quite a bit of feedback regarding Savings & Loans’ new Internet Banking system and website. Like all major changes of this nature, there’s a mix of opinions regarding the new look and the functions available. We always keep our members’ interests our number one priority, and the move to the new website and Internet Banking system are great examples of this.

All of the changes made were suggested to us by our members, or were put in place to increase functionality and the ease of using either system. Rather than respond to individual questions, I’ll address some of the more common concerns which have either been raised here, through our Member Contact Centre and in our branches.

Internet Banking takes longer to load my account balances.

This one is right. The ‘Accounts’ screen on Internet Banking takes longer to load than our previous system because it now allows you to ‘hover’ over an account to see your most recent transactions. If you want to see the recent activities on several accounts, this can save you quite a bit of time.

I can’t find the receipt number after I’ve made a BPAY payment.

Your BPAY receipt number should show after your payment has been finalised. If the number isn’t appearing for some reason, you should call our Member Contact Centre who can give you the number and help you troubleshoot any problems.

The Factor2 Personal Icons are an extra layer of security that we’ve added to Internet Banking. With an increase in the number of keylogger viruses – which can record your member number and Internet Banking password – it was necessary for us to introduce the new icons. One of the biggest causes of fraud is people accessing Internet Banking on unprotected home computers, with keyloggers one of the biggest culprits. Some people make a ‘story’ to help remember the sequence of their password. For example, “I fixed the camera in the office” could mean your sequence of icons is ‘screwdriver, camera, computer’.

I can’t find anything on the new website – the old one was much easier to navigate.

This is just one of those things that will take time to get used to. We took a lot of care to ensure the new website was easy to navigate and information is simple to find. As well as improving the ‘search’ function of the site dramatically, we’ve restructured the site to keep all the relevant information together. Having said that, we’re always making ‘tweaks’ to the site, so please let me know of any specific problems you’re having.

I’m having trouble accessing Internet Banking on my Mac.

If you’re having trouble using Internet Banking on any computer, call our Member Contact Centre on 13 11 82 and they’ll be able to troubleshoot your problems.

As I said, we’ll always be making small changes to our website and Internet Banking service to best meet the needs of our members.

Please remember that this blog is a place for sharing ideas and constructive feedback, not a complaints forum. If you would like to lodge a complaint about any of Savings & Loans’ products or services, please call 13 11 82.

This will be my last post for 2007. I look forward to hearing more from you in 2008.

You may remember a post last year about a trial of a coin counting machine in our Flinders St branch, and how it’s saving our members time and money.

Members who have used the machine have given us some great feedback, and we've been asked by members using other branches to add expand the number coin counters we have.

The trial was so successful, and the feedback so positive, that we’re installing another 10 of the machines in the next couple of months. Our Windsor Gardens, Salisbury, Christies Beach, Modbury, Mt Gambier and Elizabeth branches will have the machines installed this month, with four more branches to follow soon.

The machines count coins at a rate of up to 2,500 per minute, which can save you (and our Service Consultants) a lot of time. And because our staff don’t have to weigh or count the coins, you don’t have to pay a coin handling fee.

Instead of counting coins into bags and then taking them to a consultant, you can pour all of your coins into the machine, which will determine their value and give you a receipt. You then take the receipt to the teller desk, and we deposit the money into your account